Synchronicity is the Work of the Holy Spirit Tapping Us on the Shoulder and Pointing the Way

            The writers of the Old Testament had no knowledge of the Blessed Trinity and the person of the Holy Spirit. They were, however, very much aware of the presence of God’s Spirit in the world. And in writing the Old Testament they used the literary image of Wisdom as a personified feminine being to convey the experience of that divine Presence active in their lives. In the Old Testament Wisdom is what we Christians have come to know as the Holy Spirit.

            The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s reawakened the consciousness of the Church to the active presence of the Holy Spirit in the world. The Council reminded all of us that it is through God’s Spirit that we are led to truth and, ultimately, to salvation. Since the Council, the Church has urged us to be attentive and responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives; while at the same time cautioning us that those promptings can be difficult to discern.

            Over the last ten years I have been very much drawn to the Holy Spirit. As part of graduate studies in Pastoral Ministry, I researched ways in which, the Holy Spirit makes herself known to us. My graduate thesis was that one way in which the Holy Spirit prompts us is through our experience of synchronicity.

            The word ‘synchronicity’ is a term used by the psychologist Carl Jung to describe the experience of meaningful coincidences that are not causally related; coincidences that we experience as if God were winking at us, trying to get our attention, telling us that he is with us through all things, and pointing the way to wholeness. I have had these experiences, and whenever I speak about them people are quick to share their own. Our experiences of #synchronicity are the promptings of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

            As disciples of Jesus we believe in a God who loves each one of us as if we were the only person in the world; a God who is not content to stand in the wings, hoping and waiting for us to come home, but who passionately pursues us through life ─ like a ‘hound of heaven’ ─ lest we lose our way. Synchronistic events that occur throughout our life create a ‘highway’ on which the Holy Spirit travels to reach and guide us — but we must be attentive and responsive to these promptings.

            Being attentive requires that we be truly present: present to God, present to others, and present to self. God can only be found in the present; not in what might have been, or what might be, but in what is. It is in the present, the now, that the Holy Spirit is always by our side, tapping us on the shoulder and pointing the way.

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Readers of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on Amazon.com:

Just to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life

Synchronicity as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Ministry